From time inmemorial, the education of the children in a particular society has been paramount in the minds of the parents and the elders of the society. Due to the increasing complexity of our society, educators have long spent their time devising various methods and devices for better educating our children at an earlier and earlier age. This increasing complexity in our day and age is due in part to the development of new technologies such as printed circuit boards, microprocessors and voice synthesizers used in almost every facet of our daily lives. Since virtually every educator believes that reading is the most important skill to be developed by a child, these educators have endeavored to utilize modern day technology to interest the child in reading as well as to develop the appropriate skills at a relatively early age.
One of the first toys utilized by preschool children to enhance visual as well as manipulative skills is a set of blocks. These blocks have been embossed with various indicia used to interest and stimulate the child. Many of these blocks include a set of alphabet letters which children can use to familiarize themselves with the shape and formation of each letter. Alternatively, these blocks could be used to formulate rudimentry words. While these types of blocks have been utilized to stimulate the children's visual skills, these blocks would provide no benefit relating to the audio skills needed to develop a child's reading ability. While the child can recognize various letters utilizing these types of blocks, he or she would have no clue as to the sound of the individual letters of the alphabet based solely upon utilizing this set of blocks.
Prior art U.S. patents have illustrated various methods of teaching musical notes to children. Typical of these types of devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 491,833 issued to Bowen et al; U.S. Pat. No. 2,315,793 issued to Jay and U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,685 issued to Page. Various mechanical means such as glass cylinders or vibratory reeds are employed to produce a particular musical tone. Generally, indicia on at least one outside surface of the block would represent the particular musical tone which is being produced.
The idea of including an indicia representing a musical tone has been extended to the English language alphabet in U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,838 to Greenlee, Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,613 issued to Harrison. The Greenlee, Jr. patent describes a device for reproducing sound such as letters, words or similar auditory impressions. The interior of the block includes sound grooves as well as a sound pick-up device adapted to engage the sound grooves. When a child pushes down upon the surface of the block, the sound pick-up device engages the sound grooves and a sound is produced. The patent to Harrison although initially directed to a musical block, also illustrates an educational block including a number of sound boxes, each box provided with a shaft cooperating with a key. In use, the key is rotated to actuate each of the sound boxes to annunciate a particular letter or word relating to the indicia applied to the particular surface of the block.
However, due to the rudimentary nature of the methods of producing the letter or word illustrated on the surface of the block, it is quite difficult for the child to obtain a clear impression of the correct pronunciation of the proper sound. Therefore, due to the deficiencies in the prior art, a talking block must be developed which provide the child with the proper pronunciation of the words or letters illustrated on the surface of the blocks.